The ability of an organization within the healthcare sector to keep up with changing demands while still delivering quality service determines its competitiveness. Healthcare institutions require strategic planning as an essential tool that aids in establishing precise goals and preferences and efficient resource distribution. Besides, it also enables quick adaptation when modifications are made within the medical field. To provide a comprehensive understanding of the subject at hand—namely strategic initiatives—this paper delves deep into its various aspects, such as alignment between them and impact upon overall organizational performance, which includes objectives related specifically towards recruiting new employees or retaining existing ones while also enhancing customer satisfaction levels among patients through improved healthcare services provided by nurses working within hospitals.
Strategic Initiatives
Healthcare organizations and units consider three strategic initiatives crucial: By implementing healthcare technology, we can significantly improve patient outcomes while reducing medical errors for better care and safety. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) implementation enhances the communication between healthcare providers by reducing documentation errors and improving medication safety. Improve their skill sets and lower turnover rates while boosting job satisfaction levels among staff members requires the implementation of an all-encompassing employee training initiative with ongoing professional development offerings (Uzarski & Broome, 2019).
To cater to the distinct needs of a company’s various departments and units requires customized training programs. Increasing patient engagement is linked with improved satisfaction and outcomes in healthcare. By providing educational resources to patients and engaging them in shared decision-making while requesting feedback from them, healthcare organizations and departments can improve the patient experience. Alignment exists between these three strategic initiatives as their primary focus is on improving patient care and outcomes along with meeting the demands of healthcare providers and staff.
The three key strategic initiatives have been successfully aligned, including implementing technology for bettering patients’ health outcomes & safety measures creating an extensive employee training plan & increasing overall patient participation. Implementing technology for enhanced patient care and safety improves communication among health professionals, reducing medical error rates and improving overall results. Improved patient care quality is achievable when healthcare providers undergo a comprehensive employee training program that enhances their skills and knowledge.
Involving patients in their care and empowering them to make informed decisions about their health can improve patient satisfaction and outcomes by enhancing patient engagement (Sullivan, 2017). All three initiatives concentrate on improving both patient experience and health outcomes while simultaneously addressing concerns raised by healthcare providers and staff. Collaboration amongst these initiatives can establish a culture of constant growth and support organizations in accomplishing their strategic goals.
Achieving better outcomes in terms of improved quality of care provision and higher patient satisfaction levels requires the implementation of three key strategic initiatives: using technology to enhance patient safety measures alongside development programs for employees that focus on engaging with them more effectively. With increased complexity within the healthcare sector comes additional difficulties for those who work within it. Healthcare providers must now manage their resources more efficiently while still delivering top-quality patient care. By enhancing patient care and safety through technology implementation, healthcare providers can reduce the risk of errors and adverse events while working more efficiently and effectively.
Enhancing healthcare providers’ skills and knowledge through a comprehensive employee training program can improve patient care quality (Uzarski & Broome, 2019). Maintaining a standard of excellence in providing quality health services requires that healthcare providers stay current with new developments and best practices. This can be achieved through participation in a comprehensive training program. Improvement of patient satisfaction levels and the overall outcome is possible through enhanced patient engagement by involving patients in the decision-making process related to their healthcare needs. Patients who play an active part in their healthcare tend to achieve better health results and report greater satisfaction with the quality of care. Healthcare providers can facilitate the active participation of patients in managing their health by promoting patient engagement. This could lead to positive outcomes and high levels of contentment.
Strategic Plan Related to Recruitment & Retention
The organization’s strategic plan acknowledges the importance of recruiting and retaining critical clinical roles. To achieve this goal, the plan outlines four specific activities under each of the two primary aims.
Goal 1 is to enhance the recruitment of critical clinical roles. The first activity under this goal is to develop a recruitment marketing plan that targets vital clinical roles such as nurses, physicians, and allied health professionals. The plan will utilize various marketing strategies to attract potential candidates. The third activity is to offer competitive salaries and benefits packages to attract and retain top talent. The fourth activity aims to increase the visibility of open positions among potential candidates by utilizing social media and online job boards.
Goal 2 is to improve the retention of vital clinical roles. The first activity under this goal is developing a comprehensive onboarding program for new hires, including continuous training and mentorship. The second activity is to provide opportunities like tuition reimbursement and leadership training programs to encourage employees’ professional growth and develop their careers within the organization. The third activity is to offer flexible schedules alongside chances for career progression and personal fulfilment while emphasizing the importance of balancing one is personal life and job responsibilities. The fourth activity is to regularly conduct employee engagement surveys and utilize the results to identify areas for improvement. The organization will then implement changes to enhance job satisfaction and retention.
Customer Service/Patient Experience Model
Below are the models for patients: The Patient-Centered Care Model highlights the significance of the patient’s encounter by giving attention to their necessities and preferences. In this approach to healthcare provision, the medical practitioner collaborates with the patient to devise a personalized care strategy. The fundamental principles underlying this model prioritizes respect for patients’ values by providing coordinated healthcare services that integrate communication channels to share relevant information needed for informed decision-making processes. Emotional support and physical comfort are essential components within a framework that encourages involvement from families or close associates.
By implementing this model, healthcare providers can enhance patient experience and satisfaction while improving health outcomes. The Service Excellence Model’s primary objective is delivering exceptional patient care by instilling a culture prioritizing excellent customer service across all levels (Gierlinger et al ., 2019). To ensure a professional work environment according to this model’s fundamental principles, it is essential to focus on factors like service quality which requires support from good teamwork and efficient communication. It is equally important to prioritize responsiveness & safety. Meeting the patient’s needs through timely and effective communication and delivering high-quality care is what this model emphasizes for the organization. By implementing this model, healthcare providers can enhance patient satisfaction and reduce complaints and grievances while improving organizational performance.
The effectiveness of customer service/patient experience models can be attributed to various reasons. These models prioritize the needs and preferences of patients and their families, leading to improved health outcomes and greater patient satisfaction. The healthcare organization can increase patient loyalty and improve health outcomes by adopting a patient-centred approach that ensures patients feel heard and supported throughout their care journey. By using customer service/patient experience models, healthcare organizations can set themselves apart from the competition.
In the fiercely competitive healthcare industry, patient experience has become essential in patients’ decision-making processes (Gierlinger et al ., 2019). Healthcare organizations can differentiate themselves and retain patients by implementing an efficient customer service/patient experience model. By utilizing these models, healthcare organizations can improve their overall performance. Healthcare organizations prioritizing patient experience can pinpoint process and procedure improvements to increase efficiency and save costs. Healthcare organizations can enhance employee engagement and morale by promoting a patient-centred care culture, resulting in higher job satisfaction and better organizational performance.
Customer Service and Strategic Planning
Incorporating considerations for enhancing patient experiences into strategic planning processes is common among healthcare organizations due to its potential impact on organizational performance and patients’ perceptions. At the organization, department, and unit levels, particular strategies and objectives might be related to patient experience. When developing their strategic plans at an organizational level, health institutions might consider including goals related to enhancing general patients’ contentment or adopting a more focused care model. The strategic plan might contain objectives like minimizing patient wait times, bettering communication between healthcare professionals & patients/families, or boosting patient education/support (Joan Gygax Spicer et al., 2018).
The plan highlights the importance of recruiting healthcare professionals who prioritize patient-centred care while possessing outstanding communication skills. Adeptly crafted at an individual unit level, the strategic plan might contain aims that align seamlessly with overarching organization-wide targets, albeit unique and exclusive towards catering to each respective unit. A surgery department could establish goals that include enhancing preoperative patient education, reducing post-surgical complications, or raising patient engagement levels during discharge planning.
To foster a culture prioritizing patients’ needs, the department could offer consistent training programs to enhance communication skills and improve patient experiences (Joan Gygax Spicer et al., 2018). A unit’s strategic plan might comprise targeted initiatives designed to improve the overall patient experience for its unique patient demographic. One example where the focus is given to implementing a family-centred care model that encourages shared-decision making among patients, families, and caregivers is seen within labour delivery units. Breastfeeding aid resource provision or administering tests on postnatal depressive disorders are ways the unit might prioritize supporting and educating patients.
In conclusion, healthcare organizations encounter intricate difficulties requiring patient-centred care and strategic planning. To tackle obstacles effectively while achieving goals in the healthcare industry requires organizations to adopt three strategic initiatives: recruitment & retention strategy, customer service & patient experience, and nursing practice alignment. One area’s success can positively influence others as these initiatives are interdependent. Effective implementation of recruitment & retention policies leads to higher employee engagement & satisfaction levels resulting in better quality services for customers & patients. Aligning nursing practice with organizational strategy can guarantee prioritized and consistent delivering patient-centred care. Using customer service and patient experience models enables organizations to grasp and react to the requirements of patients, which results in improved outcomes along with greater levels of satisfaction among patients. With the constant evolution of healthcare, organizations must stay adaptable yet focused on patient-centred care and strategic planning. In order to succeed in an ever-changing industry, healthcare organizations must embrace these three key strategic initiatives and position themselves accordingly.
References
Gierlinger, S., Barden, A., & Giammarinaro, N. (2019). Impact of a patient experience leadership structure on performance and engagement. Journal of Patient Experience, 7(2), 146-150. https://doi.org/10.1177/2374373519831079
Joan Gygax Spicer, Patricia S.A. Sparacino, & Larkin, N. E. (2018). Developing a Nursing Practice Framework to Align With Strategy. Journal of Nursing Administration. https://doi.org/10.1097/nna.0000000000000663
Sullivan, E. J., & Decker, P. J. (2017). Effective leadership and management in nursing. AJN The American Journal of Nursing, 98(6), 16L.
Uzarski, D., & Broome, M. E. (2019). A Leadership Framework for Implementation of an Organization’s Strategic Plan. Journal of Professional Nursing, 35(1), 12–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2018.09.007
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